


The Judgement

by GE72



Category: Law & Order
Genre: Gen, Newspaper stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 14:23:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11404260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GE72/pseuds/GE72
Summary: A series of news leads surrounding the events of the episode "Jeopardy."





	The Judgement

From the New York Post  
September 22, 1995

Courtroom onlookers were stunned when murder charges were dismissed in the triple homicide case against Peter Nicodos.

Nicodos, the son of Nicodos Foods owner Elaine Nicodos, was arrested last month for the murders of three people at X-Byte Magazine, including his own brother Edward Nicodos. Police and the district attorneys said Nicodos murdered his brother out of anger for dragging the family into a lawsuit for libel, then killed two others who had witnessed the murder.

Judge Edgar Hynes, who was presiding over the case, dismissed evidence linking Nicodos to the murders over violation of the hearsay rule, and later, over a forensics report that defense attorney Norman Rothenberg says that the prosecution withheld on purpose.

District Attorney Jack McCoy, who was prosecuting the case, had nothing to say about the dismissal as he left the court house….

**********************************

October 1, 1995

Edgar Hynes, a New York state superior court judge, was arrested yesterday on charges of bribe receiving in connection to a dismissed murder case.

Hynes, a thirty year veteran of the state bench, was charged with bribery after police detectives and the district attorney’s office discovered he was paid off in exchange for letting Peter Nicodos be acquitted on three counts of second degree murder, including that of his brother Edward. The murders were committed at X-Byte Magazine, which was owned by Edward Nicodos.

The bribe was discovered in the form of a bank loan from First Dominion Bank, which was given to Hynes at cost, at the request of Elaine Nicodos, the mother of the accused and a preferred customer of the bank. Hynes is believed to be in debt as he is going through a divorce from his wife.

Miss Nicodos has also been arrested for making the bribe to judge Hynes, who was a friend to the Nicodos family over the years.

The arrest warrant for Hynes was authorized by district attorney Adam Schiff, who is also known to be a close friend of Hynes.

In a statement to the press, executive district attorney Jack McCoy plans to have the murder charges reinstated against Peter Nicodos, despite double jeopardy being attached….

******************************

October 16, 1995

In a stunning reversal in face of the double jeopardy rule, murder charges have been reinstated against Peter Nicodos for the July triple murder at X-Byte Magazine.

The reversal came in New York state superior court in Manhattan, where New York district attorney Jack McCoy argued that double jeopardy did not apply when murder charges were dismissed against Nicodos, who was accused of killing three people, including his brother Edward at X-Byte Magazine, due to the fact the judge presiding over the case, Edgar Hynes, had been bribed.

Hynes has been suspended from the bench, after his arrest two weeks ago for bribe receiving. The bribe was made by Elaine Nicodos, the mother of the defendant, in the form of a loan from the First Dominion Bank.

In his motion, McCoy stated that double jeopardy was not attached to the defendant because of the bribe, and therefore, the defendant was never in jeopardy. 

“The process was corrupted, the fix was in,” McCoy said. 

Norman Rothenberg, the attorney for the Nicodos family, argued that “double jeopardy is final” and Nicodos’ acquittal is the finality of that judgement. He also added that Peter Nicodos should not be held responsible of the actions of others, saying that he came into the courtroom with “his hands clean.” Peter Nicodos did not know about the bribe his mother made to the judge.

In his statement, Judge Joseph Rivera stated that “Double jeopardy is one of our most sacred laws, but it should not be available to the highest bidder.”

With that, Judge Rivera ordered that Nicodos be returned to the custody of the court and murder charges reinstated against him.

********************************************

October 18, 1995

Edgar Hynes, a New York state superior court judge, was found dead yesterday on the beach at Sands Point from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Hynes had been suspended from the state bench after his arrest for bribe receiving. He took the bribe from Elaine Nicodos in exchange for letting her son Peter Nicodos be acquitted in the July triple murder at X-Byte Magazine. 

The murder charges were reinstated after prosecuting attorney Jack McCoy argued that double jeopardy didn’t apply to the defendant because of the bribe to Judge Hynes.

Nicodos has since pleaded guilty to three charges of murder and will be serving three sentences of twenty-five years to life for each in prison.

District attorney Adam Schiff, who had considered Hynes a close friend before he authorized his arrest for bribery, declined to comment on Hynes’ death….


End file.
